New Sanctions on Syria Among Biggest Ever by US

The White House accuses Syrian leaders of gassing their own civilians, and it's looking to punish anyone in the nation connected to the weapons. On Monday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 271 employees of a Syrian agency believed to have developed and produced chemical weapons, reports USA Today. The department characterized the move against chemists and researchers at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center as one of its largest sanctions actions ever. The penalties mean that those individuals can't conduct any business with the US, and any assets they have in this country would be frozen, notes the Los Angeles Times.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children," said the department in a statement. Also Monday, President Trump met with a group of UN ambassadors at the White House, and he criticized the Security Council for failing to impose new sanctions of its own on Assad. "The United Nations doesn't like taking on certain problems," he said. (More Syria stories.)